Moultrie
The city of Moultrie is the largest city in the Caro Highlands, and one of the most populous centers in the whole of the Kingdom of Recfrere. With Lake Moultrie making up the northern boundary of the city, and the river of the same name to the east, it is well protected from nearly any sort of assault. The wars of the south helped swell the population over the centuries, and it has constantly flooded out of the walls built to protect it, leading to multiple layers of fortifications. The nexus of trade routes with the Caro Highlands, goods from the Long Road often end up here for trade, as do merchant vessels from all over the world, heading up the Moultrie River to deal in the city's thriving marketplaces.
Government
The government of Moultrie is a democracy, albeit a representative one, with each neighborhood of town voting for a councilperson following the death of the old one. These council people then vote amongst themselves for the mayor of Moultrie upon their deaths. Emergency elections can be called if vast corruption is exposed or another crisis occurs, but has taken place only rarely through the town's history. Each mayor appoints the bureaucrats and leaders needed to manage the administration of the town, but many issues are handled by the mayor directly, due to the small size of the community. Law and defense matters are handled by the Sheriff of Moultrie and his appointees for lower judges. The sheriff is elected upon death of the previous sheriff, by a city-wide vote among all adults.
Defences
Moultrie has stood firm against numerous assaults and invasions during the years of its history. Originally founded by multiple groups of refugees fleeing the First Rockmane Invasion, the founders built a wall before any homes were even constructed. The Founders' Wall remains intact to this day, reinforced over the centuries with stone and steel. Only ten years later was the Founders' Wall tested, as the Ragesorrow tribe was defeated in battle outside of the town. The second set of walls was constructed in 401, after the city almost tripled in size as refugees fled from the First Savanna War, settling in Moultrie. The third wall was constructed in 520, after the independence of Populres and the displacement of the humans and dwarves who lived in the north. Recently, the city's growing dwarven population have been calling for a fourth wall to built as their people have been forced to settle in a shanty town outside of the main wall over the past forty years.
To manage the sheer size of the defenses of the city, a keep was built on the peninsula of Pinopolis, overlooking Lake Moultrie. The keep was equipped with anti-ship defenses, allowing the city's garrison to keep the river and lake open in case of a siege. To maintain both the keep and walls, there are over 1,700 full time guards and watchmen. In a severe time of crisis, the city could also call up another 30,000 or more militia to protect the walls. Recently, the dwarves of the outskirts have begun assembling their own militia, consisting of another 6,000 people, many of whom are veteran guards and warriors from the strongholds of the Apps. All of the military forces of the city are commanded by the Sheriff, Yapeih Zeikho.
Industry & Trade
The lifeblood of Moultrie is the trade routes from the Long Road and overseas. Although Whitemarsh is a more easily accessed port, Moultrie is protected from the storms and hurricanes of the Endless Ocean by virtue of being inland. The city taxes these trades, and because of the location, it's tough for most merchants to find other options of high convenience. That said, there is also a plethora of local crops, both food and luxury, grown outside of the walls of Moultrie. The soil, sandwiched between the lakes and rivers of the region are very fertile for farming. Furthermore, the lake itself yields a massive bounty of fish which helps fuel the city's growth.
Infrastructure
Moultrie is a city with boundless industry and infrastructure supporting its constantly swelling population. Built on the backs of refugees from all over the Highlands, each wave of people add their own touch to the city. This has included paved roads in most of the interior neighborhoods, three sets of walls and defenses, and shipyards that dwarf any other in the Kingdom of Recfrere. The docks and wharfs of Pinopolis, established long ago by Alsonan refugees, are constantly swollen with ships and cargo from all over Emicara. Outside of the city are numerous warehouses and silos, bringing in the crops and harvest from the fields and plantations located outside of Moultrie itself. Paved roads extend from the gates for nearly twenty miles out of the city.
The sewers of Moultrie are fairly extensive, taking advantage of the river to help send waste out to sea. Running water has even been established in some of the more prosperous neighborhoods, offering a high standard of living to those who can afford it. Most impressive is a set of trolleys that were constructed by gnomish engineers, with an elaborate series of pulleys carrying dozens of people up and down the streets of Moultrie with only a limited expenditure of human energy. These trolleys are free to citizens of the town and only a small amount of copper pieces to those who are visiting.
Assets
Moultrie boasts multiple marketplaces providing wares from all over the world. As the primary end point of the Long Road, this includes goods from Alsona and the dwarven strongholds of the Apps Mountains that remain intact. The so-called "Stronghold Market" offers a look into the lives of dwarves across the mountains, showcasing the fine craftsmanship of their people, bringing high quality weapons and armor to those looking to buy. Other markets provide samplings of goods from the rest of Recfrere, attempting to sell to merchants from other nations, bringing their ships into Lake Moultrie. These ships can also be supported and repaired by the ample facilities, providing unique and artistic improvements to their vessels that can be found nowhere else.
Outside of the marketplaces, there are numerous other shops and merchants that appeal to discerning buyers of all types. In addition to offering trading contracts, there are over fifty inns and hotels catering to travelers and merchants, of a wide variety of quality. Over five hundred taverns have also been opened, popular among sailors and locals alike. Moultrie has further become famously known for "Swap Shops." These notorious businesses, often operated by snallygasters, show up nearly overnight, sell a lot of goods of dubious origins throughout several days, and then vanish as mysteriously as they appeared. Well known for the sale of stolen goods, items long thought lost, and cursed magical items, many travelers have found themselves fleeced by an otherwise normal appearing shop front.
Guilds and Factions
The factions of Moultrie ebb and flow like the Moultrie River during flood season. The sheer size of the city means that the mayor and sheriff must work in coordination to retain the balance, and thankfully for the situation, the current holders of the positions maintain alliance fairly well. The sheriff publicly and consistently supports the mayor whenever interests or conflicts erupt among the city's blocs. That does not mean that there are no other movements attempting to push the tides of politics in one direction or another. Each neighborhood's elected officials to the council demonstrate the divides within the city, often based on wealth or race and three legitimate political parties have emerged in the city, in addition to less legal interest groups.
The three political blocs of Moultrie are the Outsiders, the Founders, and the Peninsulars. The Outsiders consist primarily of the dwarven neighborhoods and some of the poorer districts of town, and they lobby constantly for the increase of protection for the outskirts and the increase of guard activity to troubled areas. They mostly claim to speak for the working men and women of the city. The Founders instead represent the wealthier internal districts of town, and are more traditionalist, and advocate for the Church and old values over the progressive agendas of the outsiders. They have also recently begun calling for the expulsion of the dwarves, claiming that their arrival has disrupted the economy of the city. The Peninsulars on the other hand, are a third way, which are backed mostly by the dockworkers and merchants of the city. They are avid in the pursuit of commercial growth of the city, but also have called for lowering of taxes. They often ally with either of the other two parties if it supports their own interests.
Besides the legal political blocs, the snallygaster underground has its tendrils throughout the whole city. While both advocating for snallygaster rights and the support of their neighborhoods, they have also done much to undermine the position of other factions. They seek only to reduce the guards' presence in their business and to increase their own influence, even outside of snallygaster neighborhoods. Other localized gangs compete against them, but ultimately, few human or dwarven criminal syndicates have demonstrated the power or muscle to stand up to the avians.
Architecture
The architecture of Moultrie is affectionately known as a "mongrel" style, as it has been built up over the centuries by waves of refugees. Traditional Caroan styles are supplemented by Jorgan ones. Snallygaster aviary styles, dwarven outposts, gnomish enclaves, and even Populresi pagodas can be seen throughout the city's varied neighborhoods. It can be argued that you can tell the age of a neighborhood by the style of the construction, which each has been maintained in style and substance since their inceptions.
Founding Date
290 AF
Type
City
Population
170,000
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Moultrian
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
~119,000 Caroan Humans
~27,000 Mountain Dwarves
~15,000 Snallygasters
~9,000 Various Other Races
Comments